Fasologist
An interpreter of secret or obscure signs from divine sources to determine aspects about the world that would otherwise be unknown. History Before fasologists had their official title they were referred to as seers within the Moon Kingdom, these seers had the ability to seemingly interpret signs from the divine that they may have left. There were multiple seers in Queen Rose the First’s royal council during the first era. At this stage reliable seers outside the royal council were rare, a sizable portion of them actively extorted or manipulated others. Once the Queen was alerted to the malpractice she banned seers outside the royal council, this ban lasted from 5AT to 12AT. During the ban however the seers in the council took it upon themselves to begin to study and define how they practiced their craft which was titled Fasology, the study of fate. With the information provided by the royal council it was distributed to the Spires to be taught, and members of the council actively looked for apprentices to take up becoming the first generation of Fasologists. While still remaining a relatively niche profession even in more recent times Fasology bled into Moon Kingdom culture, spawning more colloquial symbolic meanings for flowers, lunar phases, body parts, birth stones, etc. It wasn’t until 30AT that fasologists were recognised as a profession across all three kingdoms, soon after both the Sun and Earth kingdom adopted their own fasologist into their royal courts. Skills and Practices Rune Casting Not to be mistaken for rune smiting, rune casting is the practice of attempting to ask a supernatural being a question. The being can be a lost spirit, a devoid creature, or a sentinel for example. To get a question answered the asker is instructed to pick from an assortment of runes blindly, these runes are often flat, smooth stones with a symbol carved or written on either side. With the picked runes, the Fasologist jumbles the assortment before casting them into a reading bowl, the answer to the question is determined by the upward facing side of the runes and their positions. Often the answers in the runes are difficult to interpret due to their uniqueness but most Fasologist are able decipher them. Spirit Channelling Spirit channelling is the practice of attracting lost spirits and attempting to interact with them, often this practice is requested by family members who believe dead family members did not pass on, and they wish to rectify it. A fasologist will gather with the person or people who wish to interact with a spirit, after the fasologist is told which spirit they wish to find, the rest of the party contribute personal items of the deceased to act as a beacon. The beacons are placed in the centre of a seeing circle, which is a circle adorned with various interlinking patterns atop a table, at points around the circle small, clear quartz crystals are placed. All attending members link hands around the table completing the circle. Now ready to begin the fasologist will then start to attempt to draw the lost spirit to the circle by use of various chants and calls. Once the spirit is present the quartz around the circle will change colour, depending on how strong the spirit is will determine how obvious the colour change is and how many of the quartzes are effected. On average a spirit may only influence one or two. The fasologist at this time will act as the channel of communication between the living and the dead so long as the circle remains unbroken. The party may at this point say what they want to the deceased and the fasologist will listen and translate the answers. To put a stop to the channelling the circle needs to be broken by letting go of each other’s hands. Ink Tracing Ink tracking is the generalised practice of interpreting meaning from ink images. There are three different methods to create these images; the first known as ink drifting involves dripping water along the edge of a piece of paper then introducing ink in various sized drops along the water edge before putting the paper on a slanted surface. The slanted surface makes the ink and water run creating various patterned lines as it dries. The various aspects of the ink lines can provide insight into the future of the person who introduced the water and ink, making this a popular practice for couples to participate in. The angle of the paper when being dried however is set by the fasologist. The second method is known as ink blotching involves a fasologist creating a number of inked images by using a thick ink to create a pattern on one side of a piece of paper to then fold it in half to make the image symmetrical. While the ink itself is not inherently important the fasologist will present the images to a person. The person is then asked to say the first word that comes to mind when looking at the images. Their responses allows the fasologist to determine if the person’s soul is trying to say something to their active mind. The final method is known as ink mixing which involves filling a shallow tray with water and introducing inks of various colours to the surface. The tray is often manipulated by a thin, light string to alter the shapes and mixing of the ink. After the ink is ready a paper or cloth is laid across the tray into the water to transfer the pattern. Once the pattern is dried the fasologist can attempt to interpret aspects of the future local to where the pattern was created. Card Reading Card reading is the practice of learning about an individual through drawing cards and interpreting their meaning. The cards fasologists use to read are referred to seer cards, the cards can be used to learn a number of things about a person, such as their past, present and future, or they may ask a question to be answered. Category:Job Category:Culture